Personal Profile

About Anthony

Anthony graduated from Virginia Tech in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geospatial & Environmental Analysis and currently holds both GS-1340 and GS-1315 status as a meteorologist and hydrologist. While at Tech he was actively engaged in the developing meteorology program, whether it be lecturing students as an instructor on the storm chase or pursuing research in hydrometeorology and GIS. Anthony interned at WDBJ-DT in Roanoke, Virginia as a broadcast meteorologist and at the National Weather Service Office in Blacksburg, Virginia as an operational meteorologist. In 2009 he completed research mapping and measuring each stream in Pulaski County, Virginia to determine the likelihood of flash flooding along roadways. In 2010 the project was expanded through funding from the National Weather Service and now includes Montgomery County, Virginia, home to both Virginia Tech and the Blacksburg NWS. He has authored several research papers that have been presented at conferences both locally and abroad. Anthony has also contributed several in-depth articles to the Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change (second edition).

Anthony attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana from 2010 to 2012 where he earned his Master of Science degree in Geography. While there he worked as both a graduate research assistant and as a graduate teaching assistant providing undergraduate students with fundamental basics in geography and meteorology. He lectured to several classes on topics ranging from precipitation formation processes to flash flood prediction techniques. Also during his stay at Ball State, Anthony coordinated with the Blacksburg, VA NWS and USGS in purchasing and installing two high water mark signs along the Little and New Rivers in southwest Virginia. Anthony's thesis, entitled Flash Flooding Across the Southern Appalachian Mountains: An Abbreviated Climatology, can be downloaded from the BSU Libraries through this link; his advisor was Dr. David Call.

After graduating from Ball State in 2012, Anthony returned to Virginia Tech to start work on his Ph.D. in Geospatial and Environmental Analayis. Being advised by Dr. Andrew Ellis, Anthony expects to again focus on flash flooding across the region while incorporating GIS, remote sensing, and hydrologic modeling to better understand the physiographic and hydrological factors that affect such events.

Anthony’s hometown is Snowville, Virginia where he has spent 25 years of his life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has interests in ornithology and can identify over 500 bird species by sight and by song. This interest in birds paved the way for nearly five years of work caring for and expanding the wildlife collection within the Department of Wildlife Science at Virginia Tech. A sort of taxidermy, bird and mammal specimens were carefully documented, prepared, and stored in-house on campus. These specimens will likely hold valuable insight about past bird life and behavior for future researchers. Anthony has also studied botany and dendrology as a student in high school and at Virginia Tech. He currently resides in the mountains of Snowville where he enjoys spending time with his wife Sarah while continuing his education.

-Originally written by Sarah L. Phillips, August 2011, updated September 2012.

Photo information, from top right to bottom left:
-Sarah and Anthony at Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.
-A wall cloud near Decatur, Texas during the Spring 2009 Storm Chase.
-Phillip Long (right) and Anthony watch as a left-moving supercell and wall cloud move northeast through north-central Texas.
-An RHI view of a supercell in Virginia showing the classic WER overhang using GRLevel2 Analyst.
-Picture taken by Anthony of the Cascades waterfall in Giles County, Virginia.
-Anthony and the bird collection he worked on at Virginia Tech.
-The NWS-USGS High Water Mark (HWM) sign purchased and installed by Anthony in Radford, Virginia along the New River.